Crop gathering and chopping device



March 22, 1966 R, H GORHAM Re. 25,991

CROP GATHERING AND CHOPPING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec.12, 1958 March 22, 1966 R. H. GORHAM CROP GATHERING AND CHOPPING DEVICE5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Dec. 12, 1958 BY ma, mf ML@ A TTU/P/V'yjMarch 22, 1966 R. H. GORHAM CROP GATHERING AND CHOPPING DEVICE 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Deo. 12, 1958 INVENTOR. @06E/er M Goe/HMBY QL-Zn United States Patent Otice Re. 25,991 Reissued Mar. 22, 196625,991 CROP GATHERING AND CHOPPING DEVICE Robert H. Gorham, Kendall,Wis., assignor of one-fourth to Adolph Wopat and one-fourth to ArthurVerwcbe, both of Kendall, Wis.

Original No. 3,090,188, dated May 21, 1963, Ser. No. 780,121, Dec. l2,1958. Application for reissue Sept. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 405,317

17 Claims. (Cl. 56-503) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in theoriginal patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matterprinted in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention relates, generally, to harvesters, and it has particularrelation to harvesters for stalk crops such as corn, grain, hay and thelike.

This application is a reissue application based on U.S. Patent3,090,188, issued May 21, 1963, which patent matured from my applicationSerial No. 780,121, yled December 12, 1958, which application Serial No.780,121 is a continuation in part of my application Serial Number522,770 filed .luly 18, 1955, now abandoned.

Among the objects of this invention are the following:

To provide a harvester for direct association with a modern tractor inunitary assembly therewith whereby to derive power take-oit advantagesfor the operating parts of the harvester and yet have ready access forservicing and repair of the driven parts; t provide a combination ofchopper-centrifugal delivery parts in such relation to the tractor powertake-oit connections as to provide most etcient operation, and to sodispose the harvesting and stalk feeder elements as to supply theharvested crop to the chopper in the most eihcient manner and withoutwind-up of long leaves or stalks about the operating elements; toprovide'a crop chopper having a high degree of eliiciency in associationwith a novel centrifugal chopped crop delivery mechanism requiring muchless power to accomplish both the chopping and delivery functions; toprovide a harvester that is light in weight, relatively inexpensive, isefficient in operation and which can be readily detachably mounted on atractor or the like and driven from its power takeoff; to begin thecutting or chopping operation on the stalks immediately after they arecut from the ground; to mount the cutting means immediately to the rearof and at the level of the power operated cutting means; to feed the cutbutt ends of the stalks to the chopper means through an intake openingat the bottom of the case that contains the chopper means; to positionthe discharge opening from the case so that there is a minimum ofcontact by the chopped stalks with the inner surface of the case; toincorporate the chopper means in a rotor in the case and to provideremovable blade members thereof.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of thisinvention, reference can be had to the following detailed description,taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view, partly in section and partly in side elevation,illustrating how the harvester of the present invention can be mountedalong side of a conventional tractor;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of the harvester and including anoutline of a portion of its associated tractor;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view showing a section on line 3 3 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 4 is a section on line 4-4 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a view in elevation of the chopping and chopped cropdelivery apparatus of this invention, the cover of the casing beinghingedly opened and an outline of a portion of the adjacent tractor bodybeing shown to indicate the relation of the harvester thereto.

FIGURE 6 is a section on line 6-6 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged detail of the gathering means extended forwardlyof the harvester.

FIGURE 8 is a section on line 8 8 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged plan view of feed rollers at the opening in thechopper housing portions of which housing are shown in horizontalsection.

FIGURE l0 is an elevational view partly in section showing the rollersof FIGURE 9 part of one of the rollers being broken away in verticalsection to show the built up construction with alternate discs.

As the description of this harvester and the associated tractorapparatus progresses, it will be noted that the harvester is smallenough and so arranged as to its larger structural parts that it nestlesinto a space at the side of a tractor, ahead of a rear wheel, and closeto the motor of the tractor as permitted in modern designs of tractorswhich have their front wheels closely set adjacent the longitudinalcenter line of the tractor. Also it will be noted that the gatheringmeans are not placed accurately in parallelism with such center line,but are deliberately offset to tend to throw the crop stalks to oneside, and, in the case of corn, throw the ears and heavy stalks onto ashelf which has a special function as will be described below.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, it will beobserved that the reference character 10 designates, generally, atractor of well known type. The particular tractor 10 shown has beenemployed for illustrative purposes only, it being understood that othersimilar types of tractors can be employed. The tractor 10 includes frontwheels 11 and rear wheels 12, only one of the latter being shown. Thewheels 11 and 12 run along ground level as indicated at 13 which, itwill be understood, is rthe level of the ground of the crop such ascorn, grain, hay or other forage crop that is to be harvested.Detachably mounted along one side (the right hand side) of the tractor10 is a harvester, shown generally at 14, in which the present inventionis embodied. The harvester 14 is relatively light in weight, is compactand can be mounted, as shown, along one side of the tractor 10 in aposition where there is ready access to the power take-off of thetractor.

The harvester 14 includes gathering means, indicated generally at l5,which can be used in connection with harvesting a row crop such as corn.The gathering means l5 includes bars 16, FIGURE 7, the outer ends ofwhich diverge and which carry sleeve members 17 that are telescoped overthe outer ends. Suitable springs 20 are provided for holding the sleevemembers 17 in extended relation with respect to the diverging outer endsof the bars 16. The purpose of this arrangement is to permit the sleevemembers 17 to move rearwardly over the diverging ends of the bars 16 inthe event that an obstacle is encountered. It will be understood thatthe diverging ends of the bars 16 with the sleeve members 17 telescopedtheeron are moved along opposite sides of the row of corn stalks or thelike. As the divergent bars gather in the stalks of the crop to beharvested, the stalks are engaged by conveyor means including fingers 18carried by chains described below, and the crop material is passedrearwardly toward the chopper and delivery apparatus. It will beunderstood that the crop gathering means thus far described aresupported in part by braces 19 extending forwardly and upwardly from themain frame memebrs described below.

The harvester 14 includes a support frame incorporating a top framemember 22 toward which the rear ends of the bars 16 are extended forattachment to support element 19', as shown. Underneath and parallel tothe top frame member 22 is a floor guide plate 23 to which the rear endsof the braces 19 are secured. Suitable bolts 19" are employed forsecuring the gathering means 15 to the top frame support element 19' andto the oor guide plate 23. They facilitate the ready removal of thegathering means 15.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 3 a notch 24 is provided in the forwardedge of the floor guide plate 23 for receiving therein the lowermostportions of the stalks which are to be cut by power operated cuttingmeans immediately located thereat in the form of rotary cutters or discs25 and 26. The discs 25 and 26 are positioned in overlapping relation,have sharp cutting edges about their peripheries and are arranged to bedriven in the directions indicated by the arrows. Shafts 27 and 28 areemployed for carrying the discs 25 and 26 at their lower ends just abovethe surface of the floor guide plate 23. The lowerl ends of the shafts27 and 28 are journaled in the floor guide plate 23.

As previously mentioned, the teeth 18 form parts of conveyor or chainmeans between which the lower ends of crop stalks are directed by theforwardly positioned gathering means. These are throat chain means andcomprise a pair of endless chains, one at 180 on the left of throat 181through which the stalks pass and the other at 182 on the right of thethroat. The throat chains extend approximately horizontally at a levelslightly above floor guide plate 23 and are mounted upon sprockets asfollows:

The left chain 180 extends over power sprocket 183 (see FIGS. l and 3),and over idler sprocket 184. The right chain 182 extends over powersprocket 185, over sprocket 186 on a shaft 28 and over idler sprocket188 so that the chain is disposed just below a shelf 189, the purpose ofwhich will be hereinafter described.

After the stalks have been cut by the power operated means comprisingthe discs 25 and 26 their butt ends slide over the upper surface of thefloor guide plate 23 and are picked up by feed means in the form of feedrollers 29 and 30 that are carried at the lower ends of shafts 31 and32. As shown in FIGURE 4 the shaft 31 is rotatably mounted in a sleevebearing 33 while the feed roller 30 is movably mounted with respect tothe feed roller 29 and a universal joint 34 serves to interconnect itwith its shaft 32. A coil tension spring 35, FIGURES 4 and 6, acts tobias the feed roller 30 toward the feed roller 29 and to maintain it inengagement with the stalks being fed therebetween.

The sleeve bearing 33 is mounted on a front cover 36 of a drum shapedchopper and rotor casing that is indicated, generally, at 37. The frontcover 36 is hinged at 38 to the remaining portion of the casing 37 andis secured thereto by bolts 39. An arm 40 movably supports the lower endof the shaft 32 and the feed roller 30 and is hinged at 41 to the frontcover 36. By mounting the feed rollers 29 and 30 on the cover 36 andhinging it with respect to the remainder of the casing 37 provides asimple and eicient way in which these parts can be mounted and yet theycan be swung out of the way to permit access to the interior of thecasing 37.

Since the tioor guide plate 23 and the top frame member 22 are connectedto the cover 26 they are mounted, with the gathering means, to swing asa unit with the cover laterally away from the tractor for servicing ofall of this apparatus as well as to expose the chopping and deliveryapparatus.

Any suitable means can be employed for driving the shafts 27 and 28 torotate the discs 25 and 26 of the power operated means and also forrotating the shafts 31 and 32 to drive the feed rollers 29 and 30. Forillustrative purposes a chain 44 is shown as being employed for thispurpose. It extends over sprocket 45 that is fast on the upper ends ofshaft 27 in such manner as to rotate this shaft as indicated by thearrow, FIGURE 2. The chain 44 extends over sprocket 46 which is an idlersprocket and then over sprocket 47 which is on shaft 187. The chain 44also extends over sprockets 49 and 50 that are fast on the upper ends ofthe shafts 31 and 32 in such manner as to rotate them in oppositedirections. Underneath the sprocket 50 is another universal joint 34'which cooperates with the universal joint 34 in maintaining drivingrelation with the feed roller 30 as it moves toward and away from theother feed roller 29. The chain 44 is driven from a sprocket 51 that isfast on the upper end of a shaft 52 which also carries a bevel gear 53that is positioned in driving engagement with a second bevel gear 54 ona rearwardly horizontally extending shaft 55. Any suitable means can beemployed for driving the shaft 55. As shown, a pulley 56 is fast on itsrear end and is arranged to be driven by a belt 57 from a pulley 58 thatis fast on a shaft 59 which, as indicated in FIG- URE l is connected tobe driven from the power takeoff of the tractor 10.

Immediately to the rear of the feed rollers 29 and 30 is an intakeopening 62 which is generally rectangular in shape and is located in thefront cover 36 of the chopper and rotor casing 37. The opening 62 isshown in full lines in the cover 36 opened as in FIGURE 5 and theoutline of the opening 62 is shown in dotted lines at the right inFIGURE 5 to show the iposition of opening 62 relative to the movingparts inside the casing when the cover is closed. It will be understoodthat the stalks are fed butt end rst by the feed rollers 29 and 30through the opening 62 into the Casing 37. Here these butt ends and thebalance of the stalks are chopped by means of a combined cutter androtor that is indicated, generally, at 63.

The term rotor is here deliberately used to distinguish from the common"blower. The rotor as shown in the drawings is a cutting and centrifugalthrowing mechanism and attention is called to the marked differencebetween the casing 37 and the small opening 62 as contrasted with theusual blower housing which has ample air inlet in addition to suchopenings as may be provided for entry of crop stalks, etc. In theinstant mechanism, not only is the opening 62 very small (only largeenough for entry of the crop), but even this relatively small opening isblocked by rollers 29 and 30 which are only separated from each other asnecessary to pass the crop load. To demonstrate the absence of blowingfunction in the instant mechanism, it has been repeatedly noted thatfragments of cut corn stalk dropped down the outlet pipe 74 while therotor was operating at high speeds have actually dropped freely untilthe pieces contacted one of the rotor blades. During usual high speedoperation at 1000 r.p.m. there is insufficient air movement in theoutlet pipe 74 to sustain the weight of freely dropped crop material.

The combined cutter and rotor is mounted on the shaft 59 which is drivendirectly from the power take-off of the tractor 10. It includes blades64 which may be of any desired number. Five bades 64 are shown.Preferably the blades 64 are of channel shape, as shown in FIGURES 3 and6. Each includes a side 65 which extends radially from the shaft 59 anda bottom 66 which extends at right angles to the side 65. Adjacent theinner surface of the cover 36 each blade 64 has a removable blade member68. Each blade member has a cutting edge 69 and bolts 70, extendingthrough bottom 66 serve to detachably mount the blade member 68 thereto.It will be observed that the blades 64 extend from a central hub 71which is carried by the `shaft 59 and secured thereto for rotation. Theshaft 59 and the combined chopper and rotor 63 rotate in acounterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 5. Thetip 72 of the blade 64 in the lowermost position is spaced only slightlyabove the upper surface of the floor guide plate 23. It is about at thelevel of the power operated cutting means comprising the discs 25 and 26at the forward end ofthe floor guide plate 23. Not only do the rotorarms 64 cut the stalks as they are fed through the intake opening 62 butalso they act as centrifugal throwers to discharge the cut stalksupwardly through a discharge outlet 73 into a discharge pipe 74 whichleads upwardly, as shown in FIGURE 1, over the tractor to a suitablereceptacle (not shown). The relationship between the intake opening 62and the discharge opening 73 is such that only a small are of contact,as indicated at 75 in FIGURE 5, is involved in the centrifugal deliverydischarge of the cut stalks from the intake opening 62 to the dischargeopening 73. Because of this relatively small are of contact with theinterior of the casing 37, there is a minimum of friction drag on thecut stalks as they are carried from the intake opening 62 to thedischarge opening 73.

It will be noted that the margins 62', 62" and 62" are heavilyreinforced to provide the cutting margins to interact with the edges 69of the blades 68. Therefore the cut or chopped crop particles are pickedup" and carried in the channel formed by the side 65, the bottom 66 andthe blade 68 and since the shaft 59 is rotated at a high rate of speed,the centrifugal delivery discharge and the efficiency of the mechanicalthrowing action is remarkable. After long continued operation in a cornharvesting operation, it has been found that only the arc of the casing37 between the opening 62 and the outlet 73 is burnished and theremainder is lightly coated with juices and slight accumulationsindicating that the centrifugal action or drag of chopped crop is at aminimum. Furthermore, the power requirement for cutting and delivery isreduced as compared with other cutters and choppers using enlargedcentral air intakes using pneumatic rather than mechanical throwingoperation.

It will further be noted that the removable blades 68 are at a 45 degreeangle with reference to the bottom 64 of the blade arms. This angle isquite critical to accomplish not only the cutting operation which seversthe particles from the advancing stalks going through the opening 62 butalso a crushing operation which breaks the outer dry shell of the stalksso that a better compacting of the crop in mow or silo is possible. Anysubstantial deviation from the 45 degree angle referred to and from thegeneral relation shown will not break the shells of the stalks, and thestorage bulk of the crop will then be markedly greater. A theory as towhy the 45 degree angle of the blade accomplishes both the crushing andthe cutting operation has not been developed, but both experimental andpractical operation of the disclosed apparatus has demonstrated thedescribed benecial action.

With a view to feeding the cut stalks toward the feed rollers 29 and 30,flexible paddle members 78 are secured to the shafts 27 and 187 (seeFIGS. 1 and 3) and rigid paddles 77 are secured to shaft 77. Thesepaddle members 77 and 78 cooperate to push the Cut stalks between thefeed rollers 29 and 30. Top guide plate 79 above the feed rollers 29 and30 having an upwardly curved forward edge 80 acts to guide the butt endsof the stalks to the feed rollers 29 and 30.

Reference has been made to the relationship of the center line of thetractor and its straight forward line of travel as compared with thesomewhat angular deviation therefrom of the longitudinal center line ofthis harvester, and particularly the center line of the gathering means15. This is clearly shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. Particularly noteworthy isthe angular forward projection of bar 16 and it sleeve 81 at the righthand of the gathering means. The left hand gathering assembly at 82 isliared to the left for a unnelling function and tends to obsecure theangle at which the harvester is disposed, but it will be observed thatthe stalks entering between 81 and 82 will be urged against the marginof shelf 189, and more heavily against chain 180 than against chain 182.Then as the fingers 18 tend to feed the stalks rearwardly in readinessfor the cutting operation at -26, there is a funnelling of the leafy andupper stalk portions of the crop against a laying down guard 83 of sheetmetal. By the time the lower portions of the stalks are fed back towardthe rolls 29 and 30 a whipping" movement of the upper parts of thestalks and leafy parts results when they contact the portion of guard 83along the forward margin of frame 22. During this whipping movement theangle of fall of the stalks is directed downwardly to the right uponshelf 189 where the horizontal direction of the crop is assured and apositive direction is given toward opening 62 in the chopper housingcover 36. It is particularly to be noted that the heavy portions of thecrop such as the ears of corn are brought down on shelf 189 and are notwhipped off of the stalks.

To clarify the description of the means for driving the various poweredoperating elements of this harvester, attention is directed to the powertake-olf shaft provided with a sprocket 91 for chain 92 connected tosprocket 93 on shaft 59. This shaft is equipped with unversal joints asshown in FIGURE 1 to drive directly the hub 71 and its associated bladedarms 64. Then, by means of pulley 58 on shaft 59 and belt 57 to pulley56 on shaft 55 the bevel pinion 54 is rotated. Bevel gear 53, however,is mounted to rotate on a stub shaft form ing part of an angle bracket94 secured to cover 36, and the two bevel, toothed elements 54 and 53are only in mesh when the cover is closed and bolted tightly in closedposition by means of bolts 39.

When the bevel elements are in mesh, the power connections are completeto operate chain 44 for constant rotation of rolls 29 and 30, paddlemembers 77 and 78, and power operated cutter discs 25 and 26 as shown inFIGURES 1 and 2, power connection to shaft 77' being completed throughsprocket 95 on shaft 31, chain 96, and sprocket 97 on shaft 77'.

The weight support and forward thrust required by the entire harvester`are furnished by the following equipment. A pulley at 100 is carried bya heavy bracket 101 secured to the tractor. Over the pulley extend twobranches 102 and 103 of a supporting cable 104, one of the branches 103extending to the forward margin of support member 19 at 105, where itsupports the gathering means 15 and other apparatus assembled forwardlyon the cover 36. The other branch 102 of the cable is attached to a ringin the casing 37. Cable 104 extends over pulleys at 108 and 106 and hasits rear anchorage to lever 107 adjacent the drivers seat of the tractoras shown in FIGURE 1. The lever is adjustable under driver control inthe event that the cover 36 is to be opened. Forward thrust to theharvester is provided by a thrust bracket 110 at the rear of thetractor. To this is attached a thrust tube 111 connected to braces 112,113 and 114 attached to casing 37 as shown clearly in FIG- URES 1 and 2.

Assuming, then, that this harvester has been used to cut a crop whichhas been gathered by the forward gather'- ing means 15, fed back in awhipping action to the right, partly onto the shelf 189, as the chainsand 182 feed the stalks to the power cutting means 25-26. The butt firstfeed is completed by the paddles 77 and 78 and then the rolls 29 and 30so that the crop is forced through opening 62, against the margins ofwhich the crop is cut by blades 68. The severed pieces of chopped cropthen are thrown through 73 to the delivery discharge pipe 74 with merelya third of a circle travel in the casing 37v Sooner or later the blades68 or other equipment will require attention, such as sharpening orrepair, and then the bolts 39 may be removed so as to loosen the cover36. This will make it possible, when cable 104 is relieved of tension,to swing the gathering means 15 outwardly, laterally to the right uponthe hinge at 38. This not only opens the casing 37, but also places allthe chains, paddles, rolls and other equipment in exposed position.

Previously the rolls 29 and 30 have been merely generally referred to asrolls, but it will be seen in FIGURES 9 and l0 that each of these isbuilt up of alternate scallop margincd discs 115 which are one-half inchthick, and smaller diameter spacers 116 which are three-eighths of aninch thick. The entire assembly of each roll is held together by atubular central core 117 whereby to be mounted on its respective shaftfor rotation. To strip any wound up crop material, the reinforced marginof opening 62 at 62" is shaped with an edge complementary to itsadjacent roll 129 with outstanding stripper surfaces 118 to "ride"closely adjacent the circular surfaces of spacers 116. It will be notedthat the outstanding portions ot' the scalloped margins ol the one disc115 are otiset circumferentially from the outstanding portions of itsclosest neighbors.

I claim:

1. in a device movable in a given direction along a row for harvestingcrops such as corn, in combination, a drum shaped casing provided withfront and rear faces and having a generally circular front face adaptedto be positioned transversely of said direction of movement and to bemoved therealong, said front face being provided with an intake openinglocated at a six oclock position wholly in the lower portion thereof,said casing having a peripheral discharge opening above and to one sideof said intake opening and between said front and rear faces, andrapidly revolving means mounted on an axis parallel with said directionwithin said casing for cutting the stalks as they are fed into saidcasing through said intake opening and shaped to move the cut stalkscentrifugally through an are in said casing to said discharge opening.

2. The device of claim 1 in which said discharge opening issubstantially one third of a Complete circle along said are from saidopening.

3. The device of claim 1 in which the rapidly revolving means forcutting the stalks comprises a substantially radial arm in said casingprovided with a bottom, a side wall, and a blade to provide aside wallto complete a channel shaped throwing arm positioned to receive cut cropand centrifugally move it to said discharge opening.

4. The device of claim 1 in which the rapidly revolving means forcutting the stalks comprises a radial bladed arm, and the opening in thecasing is provided with a complementary cutting margin past which saidbladed arm is revolved, the angle of the blade respecting the radial armbeing substantially 45 degrees from the axis of rotation of the armwhereby to cut and split the shells of the stalks.

5l A harvester mounted for forward erop harvesting movement and having adrum shaped casing including crop chopping equipment therein, saidcasing having a rircnlnr [circuit] forward cover face hingediy connectedto said casing, and gathering and feeding means mounted to said coverface for swinging movement therewith.

6. A tractor mountable crop harvester for a tractor having a primemover, said harvester having a drum shaped casing with a substantiallycircular cover forming a forward face of the casing, crop gathering andfeeding means mounted to said cover, said cover having hinge connectionto the drum at the nine oclock position and an opening for feed of cropinto the casing as siX o'clock position when viewed from the front ofthe tractor, means for supporting and power operating said harvesterbeside a tractor, said operating means including separable connectionsat twelve o'clock position to operate the crop gathering means mountedto said cover.

7. A erop chopping and chopped crop delivery apparatus including a drumshaped casing having a restrieted entry opening for crop material. andhaving a `rotor therein provided with power driving means for rapidrotation, said rotor having an [a bladed] arm mounted to swing inchopping relation to a portion of said casing about said entry opening,und /ntving o rectilinearly radially attending blur/e portion the casinghaving a delivery opening tangential to said rotor.

8. /l crop chopping und chopped Crop delivery apparatus including rtdrinn slntprd caring ltr/ving a restricted' entry opening for Cropmaterial and having a rotor tllerein proif'iclerl with power drivingmeans for rapid rotation, said rotor lzrtving o blrlrlrd arm mounted toswing in cltopping relation to n portion of snid casing about said entryopening, t/ie casing baring a delivery opening tangential to said rotor,said [The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the] rotor arm being [is] trough[channel] shaped with an open peripheral end to support the chopped cropmaterial und to throw chopped crop material radially outwardlytherefrom.

S, A crop dropping and Chopped Crop delivery apparatus inc/:tiling adrinn .rlmpccl Casing having rt restricted entry openlng for cropmaterial (rnd lint-ing u rotor therein provided with power driving meansfor rapid rotation, sain rotor mving a blader] arm mounted to string inChopping relation to n portion of said Crisi/tg about said entryopening, tlte casing having a delivery opening tangential to said rotor,said [The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the] entry opening and thedelivery opening [are] being approximately one-third of the circle ofrotor rotation from each other whereby crop material chopped at saidportion of the casing is ccntriiugally thrown through said deliveryopening after one-third of a circle travel in said casing.

10. ln a crop chopping and delivery apparatus a drum shaped casinghaving a forward circular face provided with a cireumferentially smallcrop inieeding opening adjacent the periphery' of the face and having apair of rcvoluble infeeding rolls positioned immediately exteriorly ofthe casing to substantially `block air entry through said inieedopening, one of said rolls being provided with biasing means permittingseparation of the rolls for crop infeeding operation, a power operatedbladed rotor in the casing for chopping crop material entering the cas-`ing through said opening, and a tangential delivery opening in thecasing for centrifugal delivery of chopped crop material.

11. ln a crop harvest chopper, a generally drum shaped casing of airimpervious material provided with spaced front and rear faces, the frontface being generally circular and having an opening for feed of cropinto the casing, said opening being wholly restricted to an area withina radius of said circular face not extending across the center of theface and limited to a minimum area for admission of crop with a minimumof air, said easing having a peripheral discharge opening, a rotorextending substantially across said casing and having cutting andcentrifugal guiding means mounted thereon to swing revolubly in saideasing in a direction to move said cutting and guiding means past saidopening for feed of crop and then past said peripheral dischargeopening, the arc between said openings being less than 180.

12. A llartc'sler inte/tried for forward, crop-liarvrsting movement,said harvester including gathering means Conzprising a bar disposed (itun incline toward tite ground in tire direction of intended harvestermovement, a sleeve member rectilinearly telescopic-ally rnorably mountedon said bar, and means biasing said sleeve member ontwardly from saidbnr and toward the ground to 11n extended position, whereby .mid sleeveis normally located adjacent to said ground, but is retractable in tlteevent of engagement with tlte ground.

13. A harvester intended for forward, Crop-harvesting movement, saidharvester including a supporting frame, o Casing mounted on said frameand including therein Crop chopping equipment, and gat/tering, cutting,and feeding means mounted 0n said fronte lor crop delivery to saidcasing and including a pair of rotary cutters disposed about generallyvertical axes, a pair of bars mounted in extending relation forwardly o]snit! rotary Critters and disposed at an incline toward Ille ground intlte direction of intended harvester movement, sleeve membersrespectively rectilinearly telescopically movably mounted on each ofsaid bars, and means biasing said sleeve members outwardly from saidbars and toward the ground to extended positions, whereby said sleevesare normally located adjacent to said ground, but are retractable in theevent of engagement with an obstacle.

14. A harvester intended for forward, crop-harvesting movement, saidharvester including a supporting frame, a casing mounted on said frameand including therein crop chopping equipment, and gathering, cutting,and feeding means mounted on said frame for crop delivery to said casingand including a pair of rotary cutters disposed about generally verticalaxes, a pair of bars mounted in extending relation forwardly of saidrotary cutters and disposed at an incline toward the ground in thedirection of intended harvester movement, sleeve members respectivelyrectilinearly telescopically movably mounted on each of said bars, meansbiasing said sleeve members outwardly from said bars and toward theground to extended positions, whereby said sleeves are normally locatedadjacent to said ground, but are retractable in the event of engagementwith an obstacle, and a pair of conveyors mounted in position forguidance of the crop to be cut from said bars to said rotary cutters.

15. A harvester intended for forward, crop-harvesting movement, saidharvester including a supporting frame, a pair of rotary cutters mountedon said frame and disposed about generally vertical axes, a pair of barsmounted on said frame in extending relation forwardly of said rotarycutters and disposed atan incline toward the ground in the direction ofintended harvester movement, sleeve members respectively rectilinear/ytelescopieally movably mounted on each of said bars, means biasing saidsleeve members outwardly from said bars and toward the ground toextended positions, whereby said sleeves are normally located adjacentto said ground, but are retractable in the event of engagement with anobstacle, and a pair of conveyors' mounted on said frame in position forguidance of the crop to be cut from said bars to said rotary cutters.

16. A harvester intended for forward, crop-harvesting movement, saidharvester including a drum-shaped casing having crop chopping equipmenttherein, and a circular forward cover face hingedly connected to saidcasing, and gathering, cutting, and feeding means mounted to said coverface for swinging movement therewith, said gathering, cutting, andfeeding means including a pair of rotary cutters disposed aboutgenerally vertical axes, a pair of bars mounted in extending relationforwardly of said rotary cutters and disposed at an incline toward theground in the direction of intended harvester movement, sleeve membersrespectively telescopically movably mounted on each of said bars, meansbiasing said sleeve members outuf'ard/y from said bars and toward theground to extended positions, whereby said sleeves are normally locatedadjacent to said ground, but are retractable in the event of engagementwith an obstacle, and a pair of conveyors mounted in position forguidance of the crop to be cut from said bars to said rotary cutters.

17. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said rotor arm has a substantiallyrectilinearly radially extending blade portion.

References Cited by the Examiner The following references, cited by theExaminer, are 0f record in the patented tle of this patent or theoriginal patent.

ANTONIO F. GUIDA, Acting Primary Examiner.

